BOGATA, Colombia (CNN) -- In response to growing concerns and viewer
complaints about graphic, often violent images that dominate
television screens, news reports about death and violence in
Colombia now will be shown in black and white.

Responding to public outcry from viewers tired of a civil war
and fed up with some of the most gruesome television pictures
anywhere in the world, television officials took action.

"It's time to tone it down," one man said. "The media need to
make a decision against violence."

"They're going too far," one woman said. "You have children
watching TV, and all you see is violence and corruption."

While compromising on the issue concerning the use of black
and white pictures, news directors say their job is to tell
the story.

"I think here and everywhere a journalist's job is to tell
the truth," RCN News Director Daniel Coronel said. "We don't
look for violence. It's just the painful reality we live in
Colombia."

But critics say there are limits.

"That is a cynical posture. You have to show reality. The
question is how do you bring it to viewers," TV critic German
Rey said.

Colombian television photographers capture graphic images of
massacres, morgues and grieving families virtually every day.
Since most of the news is about violence, that means
Colombia's newscasts now will be mostly in black and white.